Heating and ventilation of paper-pulp-grinding buildings



y 1929. E. A. BRINER 1,713,510

HEATING VENTILATION OF PAPER PULP GRINDING BUILDINGS Filed Dec. 11, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Y 9 f i 2 5 I I I I r 4 z z I I 5 g a I I I I F 5 .1

m/10R. GMAAII A1.

A TITORNEY.

E. A. BRINER May 21, 1929.

HEATING AND VENTILATION 'OF PAPER PULP GRINDING BUILDINGS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 11, 1926 INVIENTOR.

'A TTORNEY.

Patented May 21', 1929.

PATENT OFFICE.

EMIL A. BRINER, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

HEATING AND VENTILATION 0F PAPER-PULP-GRIND ING BUILDINGS.

Application filed December 11, 1926. Serial No. 154,225.

This invention relates to paper pulp manufacture. An object of this invention is to produce a process'and apparatus for the production of paper in which the pulp is obtained with a minimum of expense for fuel and a minimum of discomfort to the workers. It is a further and more specific object to produce a ground pulp without the presence of an undue humidity or of fog within the building structure, to make provision whereby the power expended in grinding the pulp which appears as heat at the grindstone, is recovered and utilized to condition and warm the air within the building.

The invention accordingly comprises the several steps and the relation and order of one or more of such steps with respect to each of the others, and the apparatus embodying features of construction combinations of elements and arrangement of parts which are adapted to effect such steps, all as exemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

' Figure l-is a cross section of'a building structure embodying this invention. Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional'view of the grind ing machinery. Figure 3 is a top plan view of an entire plant, showing diagrammatically, a practical assembly of a plurality of the apparatus, such as are illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, together with the heat conserving and. air conditioning and distributing apparatus. Figure 4 is a vertical section through the apparatus shown in Figure 3.

The grinding of wood 'into pulp at commercial speeds requires the consumption of so much power that there is generated at the grinding machinery a great amount of heat. This grinding. is done under water or in the presence of water and the heat so generated appears in the form of an increase of temperature of the pulp and in the generation of water vapor or low pressure steam. These facts are objectionable for two reasons. F 1rst, the emission of so much low pressure steam into the building structure creates a condition ofhumidity and fog within the structure which is inimical to the health, com- 7 fort and efiiciency of the employees employed therein. The amount of this vapor, furthermore, is so great and the structures are frequently of such size that the ordinary systoms of ventilation, including the supply of sufiicient fresh air to maintain the proper living conditions, would be expensive in operation whenever conditioning of the air was necessary.

The system is, furthermore, objectionable, in that the heat appearing from the grindstones is so great in quantity that its loss is a material factor in the cost of production, moreover the regulation of heat at the grind-' ing stone is a serious limitation on the speed at which the operation can be conducted.

In accordance with this invention a system of air circulation is maintained within the building structure'first serving to ventilate the structure and second, passing adjacent to the grinding machinery to lower the temperature thereof and prevent excessive heating. From this point, where the air absorbs the heat and molsture, it is confined out of contact with the air within the room, but it is carried through a heat interchanging apparatus, whereby the greater portion of its contained heat units are utilized to warm the air being brought into the building by the ventilating system. The pulp, after leaving the grinding machinery, may be conducted to a screening apparatus, and if it still retains suflicient temperature, material quantities of low pressure steam will be given off by it. It is within the contemplation of this invention that these heat units shall be utilized together with those from the grindingmachinery.

Within the broad scope of this invention it' will be obvious that different forms of grinding and screening machinery may be utilized and different methods of ventilation and of heat interchange. In the accompanying drawings I have shown one practical form of such an apparatus which will serve as an illustration of one practical method of carrying out the invention, but obviously, within the broad scope, other forms of apparatus commensurate with the invention claimed, may be employed. 7 In the drawings, Figure 1 indicates, a building structure in which is housed the grinding machinery shown, generally at 2, the screening machinery indicated, generally, at 3, may be bound'in a separate structure but it is here shown enclosed in the same one. The numeral 4 designates the logs to be ground.

, stone, as shown at Fig. 2, while at its outer end it is provided with a follower 15 operated by hydraulic cylinders 16, to exert pressure upon the logs to cause them to bear up against lthe grindstone.

The lower end of the grindstone operates in a well 17 having atone side a gate 18 over which the pulp'may overflow, as water is fed to the well and mingles with the disintegrated fibers. The height of the gate may be vaified to control the depth of water-in the we The housing 13 may be provided, at one side, with an inspectionopening 19 to afford access to the grindstone for purpose of inspecting, truing, dressing, or adjusting the stone, while a corresponding opening 20 is arranged opposite the point where the pulp flows over the gate 18, to permit inspection of the pulp as it is discharged from the sump. The inspection opening 20 should be small consistent with the necessity of affording satisfactory inspection of the pulp. A'baiiie 21 is supported by the frame between the discharge of the grindstone and the opening 20, to prevent the splashing of the material from the stone outwardly through the inspection opening. By the arrangement shown the inspection opening 19 is so located that air drawn in through it impinges directly upon the grinding stone thereby greatly assisting in lowering the temperature thereto and permitting the increase of speed of the operation.

The form of the parts forming the opening 20, in Fig. 1. are slightly different from that of Fig. 2 as will be seen. The opening may v forced upwardly and outwardly of a stack 40,

be provided with a flexible coverflap 20.

As specifically illustrated, a pair of such grinding machines are associated together, discharging the ground pulp into a compartment 22, which compartment, save for its connection to the grinding machinery, is closed against the admission of air. It thus serves to confine the pulp and to convey it to the point of discharge from the grinding machines, and at the same time, it confines thewapor arising from the pulp and the air sucked into the compartment by the ventilating machinery, hereinafter described and to conduct the air and vapor outwardly for ultimate discharge from the compartment.

The pulp discharged from the chamber 22 is preferably carried to the screening machinery, which is illustrated at 3 in Figures 3 and 4. To this end the bottom of the compart ment 22 is inclined to the left, as seen in Fig. 4, to permit a free flow of the pulp.

The screening machinerycomprises a semicylindrical screen member 25, into which the pulp is discharged. Above this and co-axial with it is a shaft 26 carrying a plurality of supporting arms 27 which are adapted, by rotation of the shaft, to move acrossthe inner face of the cylindrical screen, continually to bring fresh portions of the pulp into contact with it. A reservoir 28 is provided below the screen to receive the pulp passing through the screen, and is carried thence for use. Any material too coarse to pass through the screen is carried by the beater arms over the edge 29 0f the S reen, to be discharged into a trough 30 for disposition. v

The screening apparatus just described is preferably enclosed by a cover 31 to form :1

compartment for confining the vapor given off during the screening operation. This compartment serves also as an air duct, which may communicate with the interiorv of the building structure by an opening, as shewnat 32, and convey air from the said opening over the grinding -machinery,-to be ultimately discharged from the building, as will be more fully described hereinafter, thus carrying with it, in its passage, the vapor. This compartment, formed by the cover '31, is conveniently 'in contact with and may form a continuation of the chamber 22,- in so far as-air movement is concerned, whereby the air admitted through the opening 32 is discharged from the building through the chamber 22, as will be clear from Fig. 4.

The ventilating apparatus employed in this invention comprises primarily, an air inlet 33 communicating by a conduit 3a with a fan 35, and bein I dischar ed b I the said fan g g 3' through openmgs 36 in a fresh air conduit 37.

These openings may, ifdesired, be distributed over the building and are preferably arranged to suit local conditions.

' The chamber 22 communicates by a conduit 38 with an exhaust-fan 39, by which it is which may be conveniently provided with a cowl 41 to prevent the entrance of rain and to assist in the movement of the air through the stack. Means are provided for absorbing as much of the heat as possible from the outgoing air and communicating the'same tothe incoming air. As illustrated, this is provided by passing both air streams through an economizer, generally indicated at 42.-

This economizer may conveniently be in the form illustrated in my U. S. Patent 1,514,600, of November 11, 1924, which is apractiea'l apparatus which will effectively carry out the wall of the chamber to another, through '-their latent heat.

which tubes the outgoing air is caused to pass -while the incoming air is caused to move on the water vapor contained therein, which thus falls to the bottom of the stack 40. This stack ,is, therefore, preferably provided with a wa ter outlet 43, positioned to drain the water from the bottom of the stack.

It is desirable to provide an auxiliary heater 44 to assist in heating the incoming air, should the recoveredheat be insuflicient ,to

" maintain the proper temperature within the building. .This auxiliary heater may conveniently be situated within the conduit 34. A Spray 19 is provided within the inlet 19, which serves the combined function of cooling the grindstone land of furnishing the water necessary to form the pulp. This spray is preferably directed toward the stone.

The operation of the device is as follows The turning of the stones disintegrates the logs into pulp. As will be understood, the

grinding of the logs produces vapor, which is confined by the hood 13, by the chamber 22 and stack 40. The exhaust fan 39 maintains a circulation of air through these chambers which prevents the discharge of any of the vapors through the openings 19 or 20, but on the contrary, carries all of the said vapors outwardly, to be discharged through the economizer and stack to the outer air.

passes through the economizer, where it absorbs a material portion of the heat contained in the outgoing vapor and air. It is then forced by the fan 35 through the conduit 37 to be discharged through the openings 36 thereof. It will thus be seen that the circulation of the air is maintained inwardly at the top of the room through the openings 36 and outwardly at the bottom through the opening 32, adjacent to the screening apparatus and through the openings 19 and 20 of the grinding machine, the air thus sucked out carrying with it substantially all of the vapor and at the same time a considerable proportion of the heat is utilized.

With the above construction it will be clear that the temperature within the building be-v comes automatically, to =a large extent, selfregulating. The heat absorbed from the outgoing air and vapors is dependent upon the temperature of the incoming air and increases very rapidly as the temperature of the incoming air decreases. This is due not only to the absorption of sensible heat from the gases, but

also to the fact that a larger proportion of the vapors given off condense and give up It results that large changes of temperature of theoutside air are notreflectedby corresponding changes of internal temperature, even where no auxiliary heating means are employed. Thus, the apparatus assists in maintaining uniform temperature in the building regardless of exter nal conditions.

Since certain changes in carrying out the 7 above process and in the construction set forth, which embody the invention, maybe 'made without departing from its scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompany- 7 ing drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention 8 herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention, which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters 8 Patent is,

1. The process of manufacturing wood pulp, which comprises disintegrating the wood in a building structure in the presence of water to form a pulp, confining the air ad- 9 jacent to the grinding machinery and to the pulp into a passageway, exhausting the air from the structure through said passageway, admitting a fresh supply of air to the said room and transferring heat from said ex- 9 haustair to said fresh air.

2. The process of ventilating a building structure for the manufacture of wood pulp, which comprises admitting air to the structure from theoutside, passing said airfro'm 1 said room to said grinding machinery through the. inspection opening to cool the machinery and thereafter exhausting said. air

maintaining a circulation of air from the 1 room toward the generating machinery and from the generating machinery to the outside, whereby the vapors generated are carried outside the building without co mingling with its contents.

5. The process of manufacture of wood pulp, which comprises grinding the pulp substantially enclosing the atmosphere surrounding said grinding machinery and providing an inspection opening through said enclosure 1 through which the discharged pulp ma be inspected and maintaining an outdraft' rom the room through said inspection opening.

6. A device of the character described comprising in combination mechanism adapted 1 Cir Til

to disintegrate wood into pulp, a housing to confine the air in the immediate vicinity of said machinery, having an opening through grinding without co-mingling with the air within the building.

8; A device of the character described, in

combination, a conduit adapted to be installed to introduce air into a building, a second conduit adapted to be installed for the Withdrawal of air from the building and to include pulp making machinery, means for withdrawing air from said second mentioned conduit, said second mentioned conduit having an inlet adapted to receive air from the interior of the building and to project the same onto the pulp-grinding machinery.

9. The process of manufacturing Wood pulp in a room which comprises grinding the wood in the presence of water to form a pulp, confining the air adjacent to the grinding machinery by a housing and thereby separating it from the air in the room and withdraw ing the air and pulp through, a common passageway at a rate suificient to create a par tial vacuum within the housing.

10. The process of manufacturing wood pulp within a room which comprises grinding the wood in a room in the presence of water to form a pulp, carrying off the pulp in a duct, screening the pulp to remove excess moisture, substantially completely surrounding the grinding machinery, the duct and the screening machinery with a housing to sep arate them from the air in the room and ex hausting the air from the interior of said duct.

11. The process of manufacturing wood pulp within a room which comprises grinding the wood in the presence of water to form a pulp separating the atmosphere immediately surrounding the grinding machinery from the atmosphere in the room by'a housing, Withdrawing air from said housing 'at a rate faster than steam is generated by the disintegration and admitting air to the housing at a point to be projected directly upon the grinding stone whereby air is exhausted from the building for ventilating purposes and utilized to cool the grinding stone and serve as a vehicle for carrying ofi the steam at substantially atmospheric pressure.

12. The process of manufacturing wood pulp within a room whlch comprises grinding the wood in the presence of water to form a pulp separating the atmosphere immediately surrounding the grinding machinery from the atmosphere in the room by a hous ing, withdrawing air from said housing at a rate faster than steam is generated by the disintegration and admitting air to the housing at a point to be projected directly upon the grinding stone whereby air is exhausted from the building for ventilating purposes and utilized to cool the grinding stone and serve as a vehicle for carrying off the steam at substantially atmospheric pressure, admitting fresh air to the room and transferring heat from the exhausted air and from the steam carried thereby for warming the air admitted to the room.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

EMIL} A. BRINER. 

